Tao of Pauly

Ten Minute Thursdays: A Rare Day Off

I haven't had time to write about anything non-poker. My days begin around 8am when I wake up at my room at Treasure Island which I'm sharing with Change100. I wake and bake, then check email. I leave for the Rio at 9:30 while Change is still sleeping. Sometimes I carpool with CC or CJ and I drive my PT Cruiser to the Rio. I'm in my seat in the media row by 9:50am ready to crank out two quick articles and update my pokerblog before the tournament begins at noon. I also check the list of the players in the event. I have to point out specific PokerStars qualifies for our photographer Rob.

From noon to 1pm, I roam the tournament floor and snap my own photos. I head back to the media room to upload my pics and crop all of them. I select a handful to publish to my blog and then head back out to the floor to check up on specific people I'm following for the day. I usually have three category of players... members of PokerStars, specific pros, and friends. Usually I get an assignment to keep an eye out for a specific PokerStars qualifier or a pro like Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Humberto Brenes, or Tom McEvoy. Some of my friends are still in like Tuscaloosa Johnny, Adam "Stormy" Stormwind, and Ryan. I have 1% of Ryan's action. Which means whatever he wins, I get 1% of his total winnings. First place pays $12 million. So if Ryan wins the entire thing, I get $120,000.

At 2:30pm, it's Pauly & Otis screwdriver time and we drink.I do updates and more writing for PokerStars Blog during the afternoon until dinner break, when we sprint to the Hooker Bar or Tilted Kilt to drink heavily or get food. After dinner it's more updates and I start working on whatever I have for a deadline. I also start writing the end of day recaps which I have to do for three sites. All of this goes down while I'm running out to the floor to get chipcounts on specific PokerStars players.

Aside from a 4:20 smoke break or dinner, I'm constantly on the floor or at my laptop. When I get home, it's usually 2:30. I write for a few hours finishing up the day end recaps for Fox Sports and other places. I crash before sunrise and wake up a few hours later to repeat the routine.

I've been doing this for a week straight. I had been working 24 days in a row without a day off, which finally came on Thursday. Everyone involved with the WSOP main event had a rare day off. In the last 35 or so hours, I managed to get some well-needed sleep after I passed out at a Pai Gow table around 3am at the Gold Coast around from sheer exhaustion. The last time I played Pai Gow with Otis, he was betting $800 a hand and we ended up doing that awful prop bet where I lost $400 after he ate two Keno crayons. We did some prop betting before I passed out. The chips at the Gold Coast have pictures of famous rodeo stars. The have images of cowboys on most of them. I found a rare rodeo clown. I'd take two chips... one cowboy and one clown. I'd yell out, "Yo, Otis... Clown or Cowboy?"

I'd turn over the chips and it mix up. He'd point to one and yell... "Cowboy!"

I'd flip it over and it would be the clown. I won that series of prop bets, going 3 for 4.

"I lose so much at Clown or Cowboy. I'm not any good at it," a dejected Otis declared. "I'm horrible at coinflips."

I slept in on Thursday then went back to the apartment in Henderson to do laundry. I ate lunch at Grand Cafe in Green Valley Ranch whle my laundry was drying. Change100 and I went on a drive for a few hours, away from the Strip just so I could clear my mind. Working in casinos warps my mind. I needed the break.

I had a Ben & Jerry's choclate shake last night. There's a shop in the Treasure Island where I'm staying. They close at Midnight and I've been getting home to late to partake in that yummy treat. I finally got to stop by before it closed on Wednesday.